Poverty and Support for Terror: A Negative Relation

Mumbai hit by terrorism yet again. As India’s political analysts discuss how to best tackle the menace of terrorism, we bring you an interesting article which essentially says empirical evidence contradicts the basic assumption behind the present American policy to counter terrorism.

Much of American development aid to Pakistan is based on the belief that poverty is the breeding ground for terror — a notion which goes mostly unquestioned. But empirical evidence suggests that there is a negative relationship between poverty and support for terrorism. And the “negative relationship between poverty and support for militancy is three times stronger in urban Pakistan than in the country as a whole”.

An article titled “Pakistan’s Middle Class Extremists” in Foreign Affairs concludes:

“Overall, the findings suggest that arguments tying support for militancy to individuals’ socioeconomic status — and the policy recommendations that often flow from this assumption — require substantial revision.”

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